Decline Of Track And Field

The Decline of Track and Field With soccer, football and basketball becoming so popular, track and field is being left in the dust. When several track and field events are only available to watch on websites such as ESPN3 or NBC Sports Live Extra, it lowers the viewership of the sport. The sport of track and field has been one of the country's oldest sport. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the highlights and stories of the track and field were national and athletes got more notoriety. Now, athletes struggle for sponsorship to maintain a good lifestyle because they cannot get enough money to compete and satisfy their daily needs such as housing, clothing, and other amenities. Although the US Track and Field Association denies …show more content…
As track and field developed as a modern sport, a major issue for all athletes was their status as amateurs. If an athlete gets caught making money, the athlete could be banned from competition for life. Starting in the 1920s, track and field's popularity rose. The first NCAA national championships were held for men in 1921, and women’s track and field became part of the Olympic Games in 1928. Jesse Owens won four olympic gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.. In 1952, the USSR sent its first Olympic team ever to the Summer Games in Helsinki, Finland, where the squad captured several track and field medals. Over the next 30 years, the U.S and Soviet athletes competed against each other in the USA-USSR Track and Field Dual Meet Series to see who has the superior country. The two countries also competed at the Olympics at which the U.S was usually the superior one with the help of Carl Lewis (Encyclopedia par, 1). Due to controversies, and the rising popularity of other sports, track and field has been in a serious decline and will remain like that until something is not …show more content…
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, track and field aired on major networks like NBC and ABC sports. Now, the track and field events are shown either live or on tape delay, which means a network shows only a recording of the track meet. Only the international track and field events and the Olympics are on the major networks. The track and field events held in the U.S such as the Millrose Games and the NCAA track and field championship are broadcasted by ESPN, who are only available to 82% of households with a television. According to the Nielsen ratings, track meets on cable and are in the U.S are viewed by about 500,000 people which is a low for track and field. The international events that are on NBC are viewed by an average of 1,000,000 people which still a low considering the popularity of the sport back then. (Letsrun, chart) The viewership and attendance of track and field is getting lower and lower unless the USATF does something to spread the popularity, as well as get more involved with the media and